Paris Trip Day 3

Leave a comment November 10, 2016 Elsa Fridl

I love travelling, but sometimes…

Thursday. I am super-tired. One of my roommates elbowed my bunk bed several times and crinkled her essentially-empty water bottle numerous times during the night. Miss Irritating. It’s times like these I have to remind myself that it was my choice to stay in a hostel so I wouldn’t be alone so much. It wouldn’t be so hard to take if she didn’t seem so negative all the time. She complained about the lack of space. She complained about the breakfast, which I loved, telling me how she has seen “much better spreads” in hostels where there are 20 people to a dorm room, when we have four people to a room here. In fact, she complained so much I asked her why she was staying here: It’s not like anyone is forcing her to stay here. She said she was staying here because her friends were staying here. She seemed nice enough when I met her, but she’s turned into Miss Irritating. I wish I could tell her, PLEASE KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT. I won’t.

The Sephora on the Champs-Elysees is absolutely gorgeous.

I had a pretty good day. I went to Sephora (and Monoprix) to replace the items that went missing; I haven’t decided whether to get Bumble & Bumble hair products. Monoprix is very close by. They’re like a Target in the States, only classier. They sell many types of items. I bought L’Oreal moisturizer, an eye cream, baby lotion. I took the Metro from Blanche to Champs-Elysees to go to Sephora. I admit I had more jitters using the Metro than I did before (probably because of all I have been through), but I know I have to learn to be gentler with myself. I’ve been through a lot. I’m here to recuperate and enjoy Paris. The Sephora on the Champs-Elysees is HUGE – it must be at least 10 times the size of the one in Montgomery Mall! And gorgeous! I couldn’t get over how busy they were…like the day after Thanksgiving, every day. It wouldn’t surprise me if they had close to 100 people working. What a nightmare it must be to write a schedule that large. But all the employees were so nice…and they helped me find what I needed.

After Sephora I went walking. I walked so much that I later took a hop-on, hop-off bus tour for 2 hours just to get off my feet. I didn’t have to pay the full price – it was late, and I told the driver I only wanted to get on for an hour or two. We negotiated the price and he told me I could get off in 2 hours. Thirty-nine euros seemed like a lot to pay for a bus ride no matter how long or how many days it was for. I’m so tired I’ll wait to get my free weights another day. I made a list of people to send postcards to. I want to remember Nicdadya’s name at the hostel and get Irene’s LA Fitness address for her souvenir. I’ll bet she’ll be surprised.

T-shirt souvenirs are always a good gift.

I need to get a little fruit at the market and spend the heavy change I have. One- and 2-euros weigh A LOT. Maybe carrying all that change helps to keep French women thin! (If only, right?) I also need to organize my money and put it all in my locker. And pray. And reorganize my stuff. And work on my CV and set up my account for possible teaching jobs. And write Wells Fargo’s international number in my luggage and keep it with my passport.

Let’s hope Miss Irritating doesn’t crinkle her water bottle again tonight. Notes to self: I LOVE TRAVELLING. I’VE LEARNED TO TAKE THE GOOD WITH THE BAD. A BAD DAY IN PARIS IS BETTER THAN A GOOD DAY ANYWHERE ELSE. I like the last statement the best.

Salut !

Image of Sephora on the Champs-Ellysees by the author. All other images by Can Stock Photo.

Paris Trip Day 2

Leave a comment November 9, 2016 Elsa Fridl

The first picture I took when I went sightseeing in Montmartre.

Wednesday. I slept and stayed in bed until just after 2:00 P.M. At 10:00 A.M. I was roused by a roommate who told me I had just missed breakfast! I didn’t want to get out of bed, I was so wiped out from leaving at night and travelling. (I’m not much of a night person.) After showering I went walking to see the neighborhood and take some pictures. I decided I was so hungry I didn’t want to walk around too much before I ate. I found Le Basilic on a strip of land quite close to Plug-Inn Hostel. I was the only patron there it was so early: the French tend to eat fairly late. The food was so good: 2 appetizers, one being salmon with avocado, bread, wine, Perrier, salad, and Cappuccino. All to the tunes of Barbara Streisand and French music playing sweetly in the background. It was fantastic! My first real meal in Paris for this trip, and one of the best meals I’ve ever had. I can’t wait to eat at Le Basilic again.

Inside Le Basilic in Montmartre.

Le Basilic in Montmartre serves the best food I’ve ever had. I ate there six times during my month-long stay in Paris.

I went walking around Montmartre, Pigalle and Clignancourt. Right across the street from the Moulin Rouge I saw a sign peeking through scaffolding for the Gold Hotel. When I walked in, the man at the desk was on the phone. Nonchalantly, I gazed up at a framed piece of paper, and noticed it was a posting of their room rates. I tried not to react when I noticed that a single room was 140 euros. I knew it was the slow season so I might be able to get a better rate. After he hung up the phone and we greeted each other in French (and then I asked him if he spoke English, which he did), in my best confident yet feminine voice, I told him I would like a room for Saturday, since the place I’m staying at for a month doesn’t have room for me for one night. We talked about what I wanted in an une chamber (room), though I honestly don’t remember if I asked for a King- or Queen-sized bed. I asked whether une chamber avec douche et WC (the room had a full bathroom), and he said “Yes, of course.” (Some don’t.) We talked about everything except price. Finally, I could tell he was weighing how much he was going to charge me. Being the good negotiator I am, I allowed him to bring it up and I didn’t rush him. He noticed I didn’t have luggage with me so he couldn’t determine my socio-economic status by the price of my luggage. He gave a good look at me and said, “Seventy euros for the night.” I told him that was acceptable, though inwardly I was celebrating. He then asked if I wanted breakfast for an additional 10 Euros. I told him no, thank you, since I knew I could get back to the hostel for my free breakfast or grab something on the way back for half that price. He told me he didn’t require me to pay up front and I could cancel if I wanted to. He gave me a piece of paper that said I had a reservation and how much the room was, but it didn’t have the Gold Hotel logo on it; he said I would get that when I checked in. (How odd is that?) I walked out feeling pretty confident, since I was going to stay in a 3-Star Hotel (according to the literature I saw on the wall) for half price.

One of my roommates is here for the Photography Conference & Exhibition I read about before I left the U.S. Great! I told her I would love to come with her, or at least go to the exhibit. She said she might have to stick with her group which is being led by her instructor. I also met a French guy who visited one of the staff; he told me an organization is looking for people to teach English. (!) I need to think of all the things I’ve done that relate to teaching English (like substitute teaching, editing, writing, I’m a published author, I created the Essay Pyramid for international students). Unfortunately, when I went to take a shower I found out that my personal care items weren’t in my backpack…when did they go missing? I’m not happy having to spend money again for my personal care items, but I can’t believe I told myself not to skimp on security and then I did just that. I didn’t want to spend another $10 on a lock, and now I have to spend a small fortune re-buying personal care items. How many times do I have to ignore my own advice before I’ll learn?

I need to remind myself to change $200 to Euros tomorrow before I go shopping.

Salut !

Image of exterior of Le Basilic by Wikimedia Commons, CCBY 3.0. Other images by the author.

Paris Trip Day 1

Leave a comment November 8, 2016 Elsa Fridl

Turkish Airlines is the #1 ranked airline in Europe. It is a well-deserved reputation.

Tuesday. I arrived at Dulles Airport last night with too much time on my hands because I didn’t want to take Metro late at night. I read my booklet on my new phone, called T-Mobile a few times with questions, and sat around and waited. Turkish Airlines’ counter didn’t open until a couple of hours before takeoff, so I was a bit bored. Once I could check in, I was able to go to the terminal, where there are more places to eat and simply more shops in general. While waiting to board I met a woman named Sharon who is getting married. She is meeting her fiancé in Barcelona. It was nice having someone to talk to at Dulles because I was there for a long time, I’m not much of a night person, and was very tired by the time we boarded. I believe what the experts say: You tend to eat too much when you’re tired. They aren’t kidding!

The flight left Dulles Airport on time at 11:30 P.M. I watched the Jack Ryan movie with Chris Pine and three other movies to make the time go by. (Well, 2 ½ more movies.) My legs felt a bit cramped, and it was much colder in the cabin than I’ve ever experienced before: Good thing I was wearing not only my blue cashmere Pringle V-neck sweater (with a white shirt) but also my black Ann Taylor wool blazer – I would have been freezing without the layers. (Now I sound like a J. Peterman catalogue.) What I couldn’t get over was how much space there was in the overhead compartments! The flight was full, yet there seemed to be plenty of room to be had in the overheads. I can’t remember that ever happening on another airline. The food on Turkish Airlines was very good. I only felt bad because the flight attendants woke up a seatmate so he would eat. He wasn’t too thrilled until he had some wine. A very handsome man was seated behind me. It made the flight more interesting, but I was also a bit suspicious, since he seemed a little TOO interested in me. He was, after all, a lot younger than I am.

We landed in Istanbul for a short lay-over before boarding to Paris. We had a PERFECT flight from Dulles. I couldn’t get over how clean the airport is in Istanbul. No drama, no loud noises. I did notice, however, a man sticking his head into the ladies bathroom to make sure everything was as it should be. I was not the only one who seemed to be a bit taken aback—the women in line seemed a little nervous about having a man putting his head into the ladies room—but they seemed to get over it. (They just eyed him a little suspiciously.) I had a cappuccino and talked to Sharon until I boarded my plane. Everyone around us who was on the flight talked about what a perfect flight it was. No wonder Turkish Airlines is top-rated in Europe. A fun fact I learned: Turkey isn’t part of the European Union so they can’t have a hub in Europe; this is why they have to fly from Dulles (and other cities) to Istanbul, and from there fly to Europe and other destinations.

Meg Ryan and Kevin Kline in a familiar passaage way in Charles de Galle Airport, from "French Kiss."

Meg Ryan and Kevin Kline in a familiar passageway in Charles de Gaulle Airport, from “French Kiss.”

I arrived at Charles de Gaulle Airport very late and very tired. We had to walk very, very far in the airport to pick up our luggage, and our trip included going up a few escalators. (And my feet were killing me!) We were cautioned not to get into a taxi with any driver who was hanging around the airport. We were told to only get a taxi outside certain doors because they would be legitimate taxis. We queued up and the line seemed to move…fairly quickly. Then it was my turn. The man who was assigning taxis asked me where I was going. I showed him a piece of paper on which I had written the name of my hostel, its address, and phone number. The first taxi didn’t know where it was. I was assigned another taxi and he told the man he THINKS he knows where the hostel is. Only as we started to drive away did I notice, much to my horror, it looked like he didn’t have a credit card machine. I doubted I had changed enough dollars to Euros for the ride. I was correct. He didn’t have a machine and he had to stop at an ATM to allow me to get cash. I was worried that this might be one of the machines that charges an exorbitant fee but it didn’t. I just wish I hadn’t been quite so tired.

Luckily, Plug-Inn Hostel has a huge banner outside its door, so even a weary traveler or cab driver would see it. I got in at 11:30 P.M. The staff person on duty first took my payment for the two nights I reserved. When I found out that my original understanding was correct – the hostel was 26 Euros a night, or $35 – I reserved a bed for the rest of my time here. I paid for that separately, though I was told I would have to stay elsewhere Saturday night because they were completely booked. Not a problem. Then, I was helped to my room and bed. I was in bed within minutes. It was a very smooth check-in process. The common area when you walk in is just as lovely as their pictures on the web. I just know I’m going to love it here at Plug-Inn Hostel.

Salut !

Airplane image by Can Stock Photo. Image from “French Kiss” used by permission of Blu-ray.com.

Foreward to 30-Day Paris Trip Diary

Leave a comment November 7, 2016 Elsa Fridl

While luggage like this will likely get dirty, it is much easier to find among everyone else’s black luggage if it is lost.

For the next 30 days, I will be republishing my travel diary of my last Paris trip. With few exceptions, the diary will be published as I first wrote it.

I’m republishing it because of the many positive comments I received on it, and because, in all honesty, I am job-seeking, and I believe readers get an insight into who I am and how I think from reading it. I am skilled at planning events, coordinating details, and finding my way around foreign cultures. I take seriously that I am a representative of the United States while visiting other countries — and am well aware that locals make judgments of Americans based on their experiences of me — yet I can also laugh about situations of cultural confusion. Rather than getting angry at a misperception, I try to see it from the other person’s viewpoint. This is true not only while traveling, but in my every day life, as well.

So, without further adieu, I begin:

For the next 30 days, I will be publishing my travel diary that I wrote during my recent trip to Paris, along with additions based on my Filofax daily planner entries, receipts (what I kept), bank statements, cell phone records, and my long-term memory, which is significantly better than my short-term. I can remember beating the two fastest guys in the 100-yard dash in fourth grade, but if you ask me what I had for lunch yesterday I’d probably have to think about it. You will notice I make a lot of references to Rick Steves’ Paris 2014 guide book: I used it extensively during my trip. I can’t say enough good things about the travel advice Rick gives.

Sometimes I’ve talked about how much money I’ve spent and how I feel about it. I don’t go through life putting a price tag on everything because you can’t put a price tag on life experiences. I’ve talked about these experiences as information for my readers. (Hopefully, I have a few by now.) Also, some days I have a lot to say, and other days…not so much.

All names have been changed except for hostel management and public figures.

I make several references to the television program Seinfeld, so if an observation doesn’t make sense, it’s probably a reference to that program.

I make a few references to “Fancy Boy Idiots.” This is actually a pseudonym (or nom de guerre). I’m sure you can figure it out once you think about it.

Salut !

Image by Can Stock Photo.

Paris for $34 a Night? 24-hour Sale on Hostelbookers!

As a Blogger on Paris, I Went ‘Missing.’ Here’s Why.

Leave a comment April 15, 2016 Elsa Fridl

Aaaarrrrrrggggghhhhhhhhhhh. Not another technological glitch. Not again.

I am a blogger on Paris. I write about travelling there, navigating the City of Light, recommend hotels and restaurants, and cultural misunderstandings. I started to do this after I suffered a major blow in my life and lost everything. As luck would have it, I came into a windfall not long afterwards, and I decided what I needed most was a change of surroundings — to travel — and nowhere else speaks to my heart like Paris.

So off to Paris for a month I went. Since it was my third time there, I had already seen the major sites, but I revisited many of them, especially the Eiffel Tower, since my pictures of Paris were among my many possessions that were lost. I savored every French sign, every cappuccino, every meal, every daybreak, as though it would be my last. While there, I decided that what I wanted most was to be involved with France in any way I could. Although I had travelled prepared with my resume on a USB to apply for jobs while in Paris, when I went to print it, the resume disappeared without a trace from my USB and the computer. So I decided when I got back to the U.S., I would get involved with France in any way I could. Since I like to write, I decided to blog about Paris, with the hope that it would open a door for me to live and work in France.

I love what I do, though I admit I’m doing a different kind of writing than I imagined. Blogging about my experiences in Paris, like I did when I published my travel journal last July, is a different kind of writing than writing recommendations on travel gadgets I haven’t used and hotels I haven’t stayed in. Still, I wanted to expand my blog’s horizons by featuring a monthly series on Fridays: first on destination weddings in Paris, and then on adding French flair to your home. While writing the third post in the latter’s series, the post seemed to acquire a mind of its own and decided, unequivocally, it didn’t want to be finished. I lost the internet connection every two minutes (I know the timing because WordPress helpfully lets me know). Images wouldn’t load. The post wouldn’t update. Oddly, I didn’t have much trouble visiting other sites. Sure, my computer seemed a bit slower than usual, but I didn’t lose the internet connection while visiting other sites. I checked EVERYTHING, especially with my web host. They said, Nope. No trouble here. I was left scratching my head trying to figure out why I couldn’t finish this post….because, no, I DON’T actually believe a post can have a mind of its own.

Then I remembered I had recently acquired a new smartphone, because, SURPRISE, my 16-month old smartphone decided to STOP WORKING ON THE EXACT SAME DAY AS MY TIME RAN OUT ON MY PAY-AS-YOU-GO PHONE that I’ve had since 2008. Talk about coincidence. My life is full of them!! (Take that, my fellow Seinfeldians.) And I use the smartphone’s HotSpot for my blog, because the owner of my house can’t tell me how to use the FIOS internet connection. Which I pay for. God, I love my life.

Anyway, I digress. I called my phone carrier, and sure enough, after we deleted the settings for my HotSpot and re-selected them, my phone became so fast that the technician helping me told me my phone was “so blazing fast” that it was faster than his — and his building has a cell tower on top of it! Naturally, the pages don’t continue to load as fast as when I had him on the phone, because a car never works the same way after you leave the mechanic. But at least I’ll be able to finish the post that I had to table.

So. I wanted the few readers I have out there in cyberspace that I DID NOT die, I WAS NOT kidnapped by aliens, and I DID NOT lose interest in my blog. Luckily, I had a draft ready to publish during this time. Afterwards, I concentrated on my French lessons (“Learn French with Alexa” on YouTube) to get re-energized and back on track. To this end, I decided that, from time to time, I am going to write a post about my experience as an American trying to get to France, as in, living and working there.

See you next week.

A bientot! (See you later!)

Destination Wedding in Paris: Additional Information

Leave a comment February 26, 2016 Elsa Fridl

There are thousands of websites out there to help you plan a destination wedding. Here are a few that I may not have mentioned in my series that I believe are worth knowing.

WeddingMusicInFrance.com
13 Cite Dupont
75011 Paris

Phone: +33 06 31 27 61 75

Metro: Rue Saint-Maur

As a brick-and-mortar business in the internet ocean, they stand out immediately. Fluent in English, French and Spanish, they have been supplying international clients (Oracle, Hilton, Hotel de Crillon) for over 10 years. They provide advice on repertoire, instrumentation, location, amplification, and arrange pieces of your choice upon request. They offer six packages to choose from. Complete their Contact form on their web page to contact them.

Minimum price for a duo for 1-2 hours is 850 Euros ($929); for a trio, 1200 Euros ($1311); and a quartet, 1650 Euros ($1803).

En.ParisInfo.com

Email:internet@parisinfo.com

This is official website of the Convention and Visitors Bureau. They can help you navigate Paris and offer you a lot of in-country deals in the process.

BridesWithoutBorders.com

Contact Page

Brides Without Borders offers a wealth of information for the DIY destination wedding bride. They offer a list of proven destination wedding professionals for any location you want to tie the knot. They also offer an advice column and a blog to help you through the process. If I was planning a DIY destination wedding, this would be my go-to site for the nuts-and-bolts details.

FrenchWeddingStyle.com

Email: info@FrenchWeddingStyle.com

If Brides Without Borders helps you with the nuts-and-bolts details of your Paris wedding, French Wedding Style helps you to immerse yourself in French culture as it relates to weddings in France. From explaining what “couture” means to learning French wedding traditions to bridal accessories by featured (French) designers, you’ll feel like a real French bride by the time your big day arrives.

Raph & John with their Rolls Royce.

(Pssssssssttttttt. Check out Locarolls on French Wedding Style’s website for a Rolls Royce for your wedding day. A Rolls is a French bride’s go-to vehicle.)

Au revoir!

Image by CanStockPhoto. Image of Raph & John by Agence Tophos, Flickr, CCBY 2.0.

I am featuring photos of Raph & John’s wedding in Paris for this series. I want to make it clear that I do not know this couple: I selected their photos from an album on Flickr because I love their theme and the photos are available for use under the CCBY 2.0 license. If I married in Paris, I would want a theme somewhat similar to theirs–in terms of colors and formality.

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